An Okotoks mom was facing the “party blues” when her five-year-old daughter was celebrating a birthday party earlier this month.
The combination of cake icing, crumbs, juice and ripped wrapping strewn all over the table wasn’t going to be easy to clean up.
There was only one thing to do — pack up her kids and go home.
Not having to clean up was one of the reasons why Tori-Lee Smith wanted to hold her daughter Peyton’s birthday party at Playtopia in Okotoks.
“Playtopia is just so convenient,” Smith said. “They provide all the food and drinks and everything —and we don’t have to clean up at the end.”
The convenience offered by Playtopia was one of the reasons it was selected as the Best Place for a Birthday Party in the Best of the Foothills Readers’ Choice Awards.
Playtopia opened six years ago after owner Angela Milner wanted a career change after working in the oil and gas industry in downtown Calgary.
“I wanted to do something I could do with my kids,” Milner said. “Things like this are really big in England, and I thought there was a need in Okotoks.”
Milner went to England to study similar projects and one of the keys to Playtopia is something that came right out of medieval England – a castle.
“You need a bounce castle,” Milner said with a laugh. “That’s the key. It’s the favourite here. I guess it’s because you can just go in there and go crazy and not worry about falling out or getting hurt in there.”
Playtopia also has a three-storey climbing structure with more slides than a game of Snakes and Ladders. One of the slides empties into a giant batch of coloured bowls – it’s like diving into a huge dish of Skittles.
All of the apparatus is adult-friendly, so parents can join the children in the activities if they so desire.
Upstairs there are three rooms for birthday parties and parents are allowed to bring in their own cakes for the birthday rooms.
“As a parent, you don’t want kids in your house and making a mess,” Milner said. “This way, you come here for two hours and you go home — and the kids will be tired.”
Keeping children active is an important part of the Playtopia experience as well.
“The kids aren’t just sitting,” Milner said. “We do have a Wii system but it’s for active play. We want to keep the kids active. We call our parties: ‘The jump on in gym parties.’”
It also offers a play area for children who are under the age of two – an age where some children might be intimidated by a larger slide.
Playtopia has also introduced build-a-bear, where children can build their own teddy bears as part of the party fun.
For more information about Playtopia go to www.playtopia.ca
